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Planning a WFISD bond election for two new schools got more complicated with COVID-19

Making plans to modernize schools for 14,100 students has already been a challenge for Wichita Falls ISD after hour upon hour of meetings and discussions. Then the COVID-19 pandemic set in.

The coronavirus emergency stands to create hitches in WFISD leaders’ mission to possibly hold a Nov. 3 bond election and, if voters approve, build two new high schools for an estimated price tag of about $300 million.

This online version of this story contains a corrected estimate for the cost of building two new high schools.

Cash-strapped voters, the impact of the virus on the polls, a tricky bond market, higher construction costs and building slowdowns could be in the offing, an architectural firm’s representatives told trustees during a school board meeting Tuesday.

“Obviously, our planning process has gotten a little bit more complicated over the last month,” WFISD Board President Elizabeth Yeager said during the virtual meeting.

Yeager said trustees will keep talking about what to do and will make the best decisions possible about a potential bond election.

The board has until Aug. 17 to call a Nov. 3 election for WFISD’s about 83,000 registered voters.

How would COVID-19 impact a WFISD bond election?

School board members heard a perhaps daunting presentation from Huckabee Architects on Tuesday about the possible impact of COVID-19.

“First we want to take a look at the economic impact,” Lesley Weaver, director of client communications, said. “Many in your community have experienced layoffs, unemployment and a number of hardships.”

Weaver advised officials to highlight how the bond will boost the local economy.

“I think what you can do there is really focus on the positive messages about how this bond is going to generate jobs,” she said.

Weaver said the Wichita County Appraisal District has already sent appraisals to homeowners.

Lesley Weaver(Photo: Courtesy/Huckabee Architects)

And the local district, along with most around the state, has noted there is no property-tax provision for the impact of COVID-19, she said.

She advised trustees to think through how local taxpayers and homeowners will respond to any tax increase associated with a bond.

It’s worth noting that the topic is one trustees have discussed throughout their planning process before COVID-19 reared its ugly head.

Float an bond election in November or May?

How the virus will impact voter turnout is unknown.

“Will people feel comfortable and confident leaving their homes and standing in lines in close proximity to others to vote?” Weaver said.

“Will we see an increase in voters requesting mail-in ballots so that they feel safer ... through that mail in option," she said.

What’s more, Nov. 3 is a presidential election.

“The great news about this, and I think one of the reasons your district was looking at a November 2020 bond election, is the opportunity to hear from so many more of your voters,” Weaver said.

But voters will see more items on the ballot and deal with competing messages, she said.

Weaver said for a large district like WFISD, the passage rate of a bond package is 80 percent during presidential elections versus 82 percent for May elections.

The district also needs to be flexible and creative in communicating with voters, she said.

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Volunteers, riding in school buses, helped deliver educational materials to Wichita Falls Independent School District students as shown in this April 1, 2020, file photo. Wichita Falls ISD Superintendent has said the paper packets will likely be mailed instead to avoid stray dogs and locked gates.(Photo: CHRISTOPHER WALKER/TIMES RECORD NEWS)

In fact, WFISD is already doing that in the district’s response to COVID-19 while meeting students’ needs, responding to families and taking care of the community, Weaver said.

She advised school officials to consider having virtual town halls and using Facebook live to ensure voters are hearing the district’s message. And officials should be sensitive to the change in families’ economic situations.

Tom Lueck(Photo: Courtesy/Huckabee Architects)

Pent-up demand

Tom Lueck, Huckabee chief operations officer, gave trustees a rundown on what’s happening with school bonds and school design.

“What we can tell you is as far as design and construction, it is continuing,” Lueck said. “It’s gotten a little creative with all the virtual meetings and such.”

WFISD’s pre-bond work is continuing through online meetings, he said.

Lueck said he expected those selling school bonds to begin selling them more quickly to take advantage of interest rates as low as 1.7 percent.

But COVID-19 is creating a pause in the market, he said. Many elections slated for May are on the backburner, leaving about $4.5 billion in potential bonds delayed until November.

There are over $7 billion in potential school bonds in the planning stages for a Nov. 3 bond election, he said.

That includes multi-billion bond elections for the state’s largest urban districts in Houston, Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio, Lueck said.

He expects a pent-up demand to affect construction costs.

Lueck said building costs have increased 4% to 8% annually over the past few years.

COVID-19 will trigger a dip in the market sometime in early to mid-2021, followed by a surge in construction costs, he said.

“The question will be, on what side of the surge are you?” he said.

Lueck said a November bond election will help the district be on the right side, as will accelerating design for building projects.

But Wichita Falls ISD needs a couple of months to see what the appetite is for the bond among voters, he said.

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WFISD(Photo: Chris Walker/Times Record News)

Hopefully, by the time WFISD begins building projects, the coronavirus is not a factor, he said.

But construction projects are being delayed now because of social distancing, Lueck said. Workers have to be farther apart, so construction takes longer.

In addition, some materials are in short supply, Lueck said.

Trish Choate, enterprise watchdog reporter for the Times Record News, covers education, courts, breaking news, politics and more. Contact Trish with news tips at tchoate@gannett.com. Her Twitter handle is @Trishapedia.